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Ohio Paper Portrays Iranians As Cockroaches Fleeing Sewer

crooksandliars.com — Send polite comments about this Nazi-style cartoon depicting Iranians as roaches fleeing a sewer to: gsheller@dispatch.com, michael.ramirez@investors.com

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  • micropolisintel, on 10/10/2007, -35/+43The comment says it all "Nazi style cartoon" welcome to Neo-con inspired Ziono propaganda.
    • JC4P, on 10/10/2007, -32/+17As a Iranian (no seriously, I'm from Ahvaz, Iran but now live in Seattle, WA), I see nothing wrong with this. It's mostly true.
      • knomevol, on 10/10/2007, -18/+9i'm sure people who share your closest genetics and familial traditions are glad you're gone.
      • knomevol, on 10/10/2007, -6/+2the cartoon is mostly true or micropolisintel's statement is mostly is true?
        • franksmith, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3They are not FLEEING

          They are INFESTING!

          If we are going to get some high drama going over a comic... let's interpret it correctly
      • knomevol, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2what is true?
        • themastersb, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1i already blocked you once. I'd block you again if i could.
          • knomevol, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1block me then. if you think portraying a country of people as roaches is okay, i'd rather not talk to you anyway.
      • CRASSPUNXTEXHTV, on 10/10/2007, -7/+15how is this true, From what It seems, most terrorist are from Palestine and Saudi arabia. I've been to iran and most people there HATE terrorists.
        • Syvl, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I've been there too, and "most" is an understatement.
      • JC4P, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2well i mean crasspunx, who doesn't hate terrorists?
        • stupidbrowner, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7terrorists
        • bugsy187, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Do you mean terrorists like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson? They fought violently against a state for political ends. They fit the definition.
          • PeppermintPig, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5The losers are terrorists and guerillas. The winners are revolutionaries. At least that's typically how history remembers you.

            But that neglects to consider whether it was a war for freedom. The vast majority of wars have not been for freedom. Washington and Jefferson were fighting for freedom from tyranny, a rare exception.
    • kidcodea, on 10/10/2007, -5/+16what part of the drawing is "mostly".

      if you are really iranian, you only prove iran also has stupid *****. this one they exported to america, how fitting.
      • Sassanix, on 10/10/2007, -2/+19As an Iranian from Fars, and now living in Canada I am offended :(
        And I'm sure a great deal of Iranians would be too.
        I didn't expect this from U.S. newspaper
    • Lixie, on 10/10/2007, -17/+10It's a political cartoon. Don't act like a little kid just because you disagree with it. If you're unable to deal with differing political opinions, maybe you should reconsider living in a democracy.
      • kimb00, on 10/10/2007, -3/+9Right... and when Hitler displayed jews as long-nosed evil Fagin-type people that was just "par for the course" ?
      • mrburgundy, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3That's a good point, but this paper was exercising free speech, whereas Hitler was using political propaganda

        maybe those two things are the same
    • kooft, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Maybe the message the artist was trying to convey wasn't, "I think Persians are cockroaches". While I'm not familiar with the artist's work, it might be that the message really was, "The US is at risk of becoming a modern Nazi Germany".
  • cpeterka, on 10/10/2007, -32/+58Welcome to Nazi Germany in the late 1930's.
    • truthslap, on 10/10/2007, -13/+1zackly
    • rootstyle, on 10/10/2007, -8/+7NEIN!
    • genericcynic, on 10/10/2007, -7/+5Try googling for the words: iran books frankfurt
      You will find articles about how Iran publishes anti-semitic literature and showed them at a book fair -- in Germany...
      • bjornski, on 10/10/2007, -2/+11And anti-Muslim books are damned hard to find, I guess....

      • bitcloud, on 10/10/2007, -4/+8Naziism wasn't about jews or germans... it was about hatred, power and dehumanising others.
    • gmallard, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8I think Germany in the early '30s.
      Whatever.
    • moofer, on 10/10/2007, -13/+3Are you all familiar with Godwin's Law?
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law
      • bjornski, on 10/10/2007, -3/+12Oh no, someone drew a parallel to Hitler. The discussion must stop!

        Idiot. It's relevant. It's exactly the propaganda method used by the Nazis.

        Maybe if you actually KNEW something about them. But Rush and Hannity haven't gotten to that yet, have they?
      • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Perhaps you should actually read the article you linked to.

        Ironically, you just invoked Quirk's Exception. Look it up.
    • snakepimp, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Yes I am, don't even have to click the link. I see a lot of brownshirts on Digg, it seems. Kind of scary.
    • deadmann, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It's only called 'Iran' internationally because Germany suggested it be recognised as such in 1935 as a cognate of 'Aryan'. And to suggest Germany was the only or even the most notable user of 'propaganda' is silly and itself propaganda.
  • mgdummy, on 10/10/2007, -29/+73This is BS, Iranians/Persians have more than 3000 years of rich history & culture. It is really raciest to even try to portrait them as cockroaches. It is sad how Amarica & Hollywood has this image about them. All the super powers that invaded them where impressed how intelligent and remarkable people are the Persians. Just read what the the Romans, Turks, Arabs, & the Moguls wrote about them. In fact Alexander the Great's wife was persian.
    OHIO please read a bit of history cos this reminds me with Miss Teen California 2007 answer about maps.
    These links might help;
    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4679426685869498072&hl=en http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv5BsOWu3qY
    • AlbinoRaven, on 10/10/2007, -20/+8Amazin Speeling
    • thewatchman, on 10/10/2007, -19/+12if Iranians are so progressive, why is Ahmadinejad in power? trying his best to pave the way for the 12th imam? my guess is that most Iranians are stuck in the 7th century with him. Best bet is for Iranians to overthrow him quickly and get rid of the mullahs, too.
      • quaxon, on 10/10/2007, -5/+35if americans are so progressive, why is bush in power? trying his best to pave the way for the return of jesus and the rapture? my guess is that most americans are stuck in the 7th century with him. Best bet is for america to overthrow him quickly and get rid of the neocons and christian fundamentals, too.
        • luet, on 10/10/2007, -10/+1you guys are both dumbasses.

          both men are in power still because they possess enough authority and, well, money to stay in power. The bible belt is blinded to make Bush look like a "Great American Hero", and most of iran is blinded to make Ahmadinejad look like the best thing ever. Stop squabbling with each other.
        • ruddy, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2we'll get rid of bush before the iranians Ahmadinejad ;)

      • kooft, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10"if Iranians are so progressive, why is Ahmadinejad in power?" Umm, the Iranians were doing just fine until their elected leader was replaced with a brutal dictator, by the CIA, in the 50's. But, yeah, let's just forget about the last 50+ years of US intervention into the region. I mean, supporting Saddam's use of WMD's against Iranian military and civilians had no ramifications now did it? Decades of sanctions have severely impacted Iran's economy either I suppose?
      • mgdummy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2So why not put Ahmadinejad on the cartoon rather than insulting 70 million Iranians.
    • crunchdigg, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3That would be Miss Teen South Carolina, but hey, but if it reminds you with something, go for it.
      • DaffyDuck, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I don't have a map and don't know where Iran is. Can some kind folks give some money the asian countries and maybe the Iraq to help me figure this out?
    • MindTrigger, on 10/10/2007, -5/+4@mgdummy

      Just because some racist neocon newspaper prints a cartoon like this, doesn't mean all of America "has this image about them". Grow up, or shut up.
      • krd1979, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1I'm from Columbus and the Dispatch is far from racist or "neocon", so get some facts before spouting off.
      • mgdummy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Have you seen the movie 300, and how Hollywood tries to show how barbaric are the Persians !!!!?
        Do you know the Persians are have issued the world's first known charter of human rights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Cylinder
        Do you think Americans know this
    • CornStarch, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6The Irony is most of those who have left Iran over the years have been some of the most educated and progressive, but who were forced out by the revolutionaries.
    • bwolfson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I realize that when you directed that comment at OHIO, that you meant the Columbus Dispatch (my home town). Some of us at least have the intelligence to decipher what is propaganda and what isn't. It's pretty well known that this newspaper isn't the greatest in the country.
    • Vachel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It's sad how you claim that all of America thinks Iranians are cockroaches.
    • mgdummy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0The BBC Link has changed to:
      http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=554201962695917482&q=bbc+iran&total=490&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
  • Napoleone, on 10/10/2007, -19/+109I see in an attempt here to de-humanize Iranians. It's a classic propaganda technique.

    Japanese: Japs, Yellow Bastards
    Germans: Nazi Trash
    Russians: Reds, Commies
    Vietnamese: Gooks
    Arabs: Sand *****
    Jews: Jews, Hook-Nosed, Zionist, Rats, Scum, etc...

    It's hard to kill someone whom you feel has as much a right to life as you do. Gotta take em down to sub-human status before you bomb the ***** out of them.
    • swrostmore, on 10/10/2007, -7/+48The mission of the propagandist is to make one group of people believe another group of people is not human. I forget who said that, but its very true
      • DownloadThis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9"“The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human”" - Aldous Huxley
        • UglieJosh, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6An even more relevant Huxley quote:

          "And it seems to me perfectly in the cards that there will be within the next generation or so a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing … a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda, brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods."
          • Whiskeytorofalc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Wow. was he a prophet of some kind? maybe there's something to this quote, or maybe i just need some sleep, but im leaning toward MSM control of the masses of pill poppin' 'mericans.
    • swatward, on 10/10/2007, -1/+27Jew isn't a derogatory term.
      • ruddy, on 10/10/2007, -7/+4updated list:

        Japanese: Japanese, Japs, Yellow Bastards
        Germans: Germans, Nazi Trash
        Russians: Russians, Reds, Commies
        Vietnamese: Vietnamese, Gooks
        Arabs: Arabs, Sand *****
        Jews: Jews, Hook-Nosed, Zionist, Rats, Scum, etc...
      • Napoleone, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0swatward: I agree that it shouldn't be viewed as such. But it is used a pejorative by some.

        Dumb; Retard; Liberal, etc.. Each of these are words that simply describe a condition or mode of thinking, but now they're viewed as insensitive and contemptuous terms.
        • enginbeering, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Liberal? What the ***** are you talking about?
        • nick111, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Although one positive aspect of the Bush presidency, is that Liberal has become something of a compliment.
      • bitcloud, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1well the correct term would be "jewish people"

        Most derogatory terms emphasise the term and downplay the "people" side...
        blacks, jews, hispanics, terrorists...

        it's easier to box them that way. (and often those who get boxed unwittingly do it to themselves)
      • kimb00, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Please see: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/study_iraqis_may_experience
    • SuperMoses, on 10/10/2007, -5/+4French: Those snobby frogs!
      • psygnisfive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Don't worry about being dugg down. It's just a sign that the people doing so didn't watch the video with John Cleese. Or they're all Belgian. ***** Belgians.
      • bitcloud, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2"Don't get me started on the belgians!"
    • johnrohan, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1I don't believe that "nazi trash" was ever a common word for Germans, but they were called "krauts", "huns" (WWI), "jerrys", and of course, "nazis", although that was sometimes accurate.

      You forgot the Americans: The Great Satan, infidels, yanks, yankees, imperialists, etc.

      But oh, the horror of it all...I think that if Iranians stopped bombing people, then maybe we would stop doing mean things too, like calling them cockroaches.
      • anachronaut, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4"I think that if Iranians stopped bombing people, then maybe we would stop doing mean things too"

        Oh. My. God. You are either a master humorist (and the brilliant sarcasm swooshed right over my head, in which case I apologize) or you are seriously one of the biggest idiots on the planet. Unfortunately you seemed to be serious, you poor, brainwashed, bloated sack of protoplasm.
      • Myonosken, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1When did Iran bomb you *****?
  • SwissCamel, on 10/10/2007, -43/+14That cartoon is completely inaccurate. I have recently visited Iran and I did not see any drains or even a hint of a sewage system, so how they could flee one is beyond me.
    • Farik, on 10/10/2007, -6/+18I had to unblock you to bury you then make this comment.
      • screensnot, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3I call BS. If you had him blocked, how did you know he posted any comment at all?
        • physphd, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Maybe it's something in the latest revision of the comment system, but folks that I've block now just appear as a grayed out buried comment with the notation "You have blocked this used" or something like that. I like the old system where blocked meant blocked.
      • zweben, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7You don't have to unblock someone to bury them. Just un-hide the comment and bury it.

        And screenshot: blocked users show up like buried posts now, you can still look at the posts if you want.
        • Farik, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1But if you acknowledge their existence and bury them, they then become unblocked.
    • Darkside2984, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Haha, that was great! Digg is full of pussies, keep on keepin on buddy!
  • phenry50BMG, on 10/10/2007, -11/+62Iran is not a third world nation. Stepping into this hornet's nest will be costly. Every Iranian person I've met, I've liked. The Persian people are proud of their heritage and homeland. Those who are currently siding with the US will quickly turn against it when the first bomb hits. The blowback from this one will be immense.
    • DaffyDuck, on 10/10/2007, -0/+17I agree. The Iranian people are good people. In fact, Iran is one of the more progressive muslim countries. Much more so than Saudi Arabia, I believe. We should stick with diplomacy.
      • nick111, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16Yea - I like the Iranian guys I've met as well... and out of all the Muslim guys I know, they're the only ones that will bring women out drinking with them. Iran is actually post-fundamentalist I think. The Iranian state and power-structures are still pretty backward, but the people that I've met have been ok... and lets not forget that Iran was a democracy before Britain and the US destroyed it and propped up the Shah.
        • bjornski, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11You're asking Republicans to actually pay attention to history. It doesn't work that way.
        • thecoolestguy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Ron Paul pays attention to history.
    • psygnisfive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Plus, we're not an army of 300 scantily clad, completely ripped Spartans.
      • snakepimp, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2That's silly, this is not a game, people are dying, and will in more places and greater numbers, unless we speak up.
        This is not a movie. We're much more dangerous than an army of 300 scantily clad T-Rex.
        Good Morning America, it's time to run your country, come on now.
    • NtHammer, on 10/10/2007, -8/+2what if the cockroachers were meant to signify there resistance to nuclear weapons.....

      its a ***** opinion, with all the talk about freedom of speech and non-tolerant people on digg i would expect that you all wouldnt be bashing ohio and this newspaper
      • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10You are confused. Upholding your right to be an ***** does not include me relinquishing my right to call you one.
  • akf2000, on 10/10/2007, -5/+23Good old Google Adsense there at the top of this page offering non-nuclear solutions.
  • CDoug03, on 10/10/2007, -25/+9I wouldn't really call them cockroaches. They are more like European peasants under the rule of the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages. Considering the similarities you'd think they'd all get along with everyone by now. But I mean its not like we are jabbing a sore wound by staying in Iraq or anything...
    • Wolverine82, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2CDoug03. you suck at life.
    • shabumike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0European peasants under the rule of the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages. Much like like you
  • samadam, on 10/10/2007, -22/+37I think the image is more about how all the evil in the area seems to flow from the uncontrolled vent that is Iran. Not comparing Iranians to cockroaches.

    But what do I know, what with this being my local paper and all.
    • samadam, on 10/10/2007, -19/+9That is to say, they are saying that the cockroaches are terrorists, flowing from Iran an infesting the other countries, which is a known fact. Terrorists do come from Iran into Iraw and stir up trouble there. I have no problem comparing a terrorist to a cockroach.
      • SuperMoses, on 10/10/2007, -4/+12Most terrorists come from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, get your facts straight. The terrorists groups in Iran are supported by the US, like Jundallah and MEK.
        • exomni, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3lol, as if we'd ever do anything about oil-rich Saudi Arabia?

          If you thought Iraq was a bad idea...
      • snakepimp, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Super Moses, you know what is going on, I like that. Everybody else, go read a book for crying out loud, k, thx.
        Although, I believe you should have said, "most 'middle-eastern' terrorists." I think I read Indonesia was actually Number 1.
        Hey people, hate terrorists? Go after GLADIO, NATO's secret army, who enacted horrible acts of terrorism against Italian and other innocent citizens.
        Like I said, go read a book.
    • Wolverine82, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3samadam. you are a retard. there are a million and ONE ways to say what you 'think' than using COCKROACHES as an example
    • airiox, on 10/10/2007, -10/+7Exactly, notice how the roaches are only fleeing into areas where muslim insurgents are killing innocent people. This isnt saying that all Iranians are roaches, it is merely saying tha Iran is a sponsor of terror. And if you say that terrorists should be considered to be in higher regard than roaches you are one sick twisted bastard.
      • Wolverine82, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3hey, i don't know if you noticed the sewer part. why don't you look at it again because obviously you're blind.

        also the only sick twisted bastard is you and samadam for defending this kind of propaganda. how the hell is it ok to pair a country with terrorism based off accusations? what the hell ever happend to 'innocent till proven guilty?' oh, wait, i know, it's called if BUSH SAYS SO, THEN IT'S TRUE, RIGHT? just like Iraq? oh yeah, found those WMD, oh yeah. and let me get this straight. even if they are supporting other groups of 'terrorists', what's your definition of terror? somebody who stands up against you and says you're doing the wrong thing? you tell me who is the terrorist. explain to me how you justify our actions in Iraq? and then you have the audacity to defend this cartoon.
        • airiox, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4No, see I have this brain, yeah do you have one too? Yeah well I used this brain and I said, lets see whats coming out of Iran? Oh wait, did they just say they have 3,000 centrifuges enriching uranium at this very moment? Do they hate Jews merely because Abraham favored Issac over Ishmael? Yeah see, my brain says, Iran bad. But you used your brain and it said, BUSH = BAD, anyone who hates bush = good. So instead of paying attention to Irans seething hatred for, thats right, you, you said 'hey Iran hates bush, they must be cool.'
          • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4"They" don't hate Jews. The Iranian people are as diverse in opinions, tolerance, education, and experience as any other people.

            By referring to Iranians as a single, faceless entity, and by mixing the complex regime, with its fundamentalist and secular components, in with the Iranian people---who are, incidentally, among the most literate in the world and who had, until the US helped topple it, the only real democratic government in the region, with a rich and proud history and culture, you are doing the preparatory work of those who would justify sending our young men and women to kill their men and women and children, and be killed in turn by them.

            Not only is your position profoundly immoral, even criminal, it is also suicidal. Failing to understand the strong identity and pride Iranians feel in their nation, and dehumanizing them in preparation of an attack on their sovereign soil, endangers my children and their children and all American children as well.

            Iran is not Iraq. And the Iranians are not their government. The phrase "Pandora's Box" was invented to describe this kind of situation.
          • pakiman47, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0"They" Hate the jews because of what they have been doing in Palestine for the last 50 years, nothing to do with who they are. Many people in the world, not just Muslims, are extremely pissed off with mayn Jews because of their support for the oppressive policies of the Israeli govt. I think Irans distrust of Israle is completely justified and based in fact.
      • bitcloud, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2terrorists should be considered in higher regard to roaches.

        They should be considered as human beings. Criminal human beings perhaps, but keep your dehumanizing propaganda to yourself.
    • hierophantus, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1I tend to agree with you that this seems to represent the jihadis flooding from Iran to surrounding countries, not all Iranians. I also agree, though, that using cockroaches to represent people at all treads a thin line of dehumanization. Also, pretty tough to avoid the implications of depicting Iran as a sewer, regardless of the intended message. If I were the editor, I would have axed it to ensure the wrong message wasn't sent.
    • ajays, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4"All the evil in the area seems to flow from Iran".
      Sigh... have you not being paying attention? Or are you just parroting the lines spouted by the neocons?
      Take a look at the trouble in Afghanistan, with the resurgence of the Taliban. WHERE ARE THE TALIBAN REGROUPING AND RETRAINING? In Pakistan, you nitwit.

      And Iraq? Majority of foreign fighters in Iraq are coming from SAUDI ARABIA, another US "ally" :
      QUOTE:
      Although Bush administration officials have frequently lashed out at Syria and Iran, accusing it of helping insurgents and militias here, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third neighbor, Saudi Arabia, according to a senior U.S. military officer and Iraqi lawmakers.
      ENDQUOTE
      Source: LA Times, July 15, 2007: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-saudi15jul15,0,3132262.story?coll=la-home-center
    • thecoolestguy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5More than 50% of the foreign fighters caught in Iraq are Saudis. The demonization of Iranians is happening because Israel and its Jewish supporters in the US, like Rupert Murdoch, don't like Iran, there's no other reason. Iran helped the US stabilize Afghanistan after 911.
      • shabumike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0More than 50% of the foreign fighters in Iraq are americans.
  • samadam, on 10/10/2007, -31/+25That is to say, they are saying that the cockroaches are terrorists, flowing from Iran an infesting the other countries, which is a known fact. Terrorists do come from Iran into Iraw and stir up trouble there. I have no problem comparing a terrorist to a cockroach.
    • Wolverine82, on 10/10/2007, -12/+17that is to say, you are a retard.
    • inobla, on 10/10/2007, -12/+6I think the comparison is a little unfair to cockroaches. Anybody who sneaks over the Iranian border and takes out innocent children with suicide bombs are worse than bugs. Same goes for those who defend the action. I have no problem advocating the extermination of such trash.

      I'm not saying that Iranians are cockroaches. Every country has their own waste of human flesh.
      • Wolverine82, on 10/10/2007, -5/+13yeah, you're right. people who sneak over the boarder and kill people are bad.

        well, what about the people who don't sneak over? what about the ones that drop billions of dollars worth of bombs on those same people? i guess the people who commit these crimes should be absolutely horrible. worse than what you say.

        why don't you advocate the extermination of yourself first before you talk about others.
        • inobla, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1You guess huh?

          "why don't you advocate the extermination of yourself first before you talk about others."

          Wow Wolverine82, that's really deep . Yes, I happen to believe that dropping a bomb and taking out somebody who targets innocent civilians is a good thing. Suicide bombers are automatic advocates of their own extermination, I'd just prefer to see them dead before they themselves pick the time and situation. The majority of their targets are not military opposition, but instead innocent people in dense places like markets who are just trying to get by and support their families.

          And before you jump to any more conclusions on my stance on the war in Iraq, I'll say this; I'll be very happy when the Iraqi military and police are start handling this crap on their own...whether it's crap generated from within their own country, or "cockroaches" coming in from bordering countries. Unfortunately it may take a wake-up call when U.S. troops begin to heavily withdraw before they really begin stepping up.

          Thanks for the ineloquent jab!
      • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3"Extermination of such trash" is the ideology of a Saudi Arabia, or a Saddam Hussein. Here in the US, we have this concept of "rule of law". We put murderers on trial and grant them due process (at least we did until your fellow authoritarian Bush trampled on our Bill of Rights and the traditions this nation fought for for 300 years).

        John Adams (Google him, you probably need to) defended British soldiers when they shot and killed unarmed Americans in a peaceful protest. Back then, there were fascist scum who said "exterminate the scum", too - but America was greater than that, back then.

        I wish you had the courage of America's founders, rather than seek to be just like her cowardly enemies--without, and within.
        • inobla, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1You're right. Let's tell the Iraqi police go ahead and allow folks go keep pouring in from neighboring countries to attack whoever they want. Don't fight back. Don't kill them before they succeed in taking out 50 random civilians in a single shot because, of course, they deserve due process! That's horse *****. There is nothing fascist about protecting yourself, and this is indeed a situation where a population is being put into the situation where they need to do so. Who's going to do it? It's now the job of their police and military. Due process isn't going to do a damn bit of good in a situation that big nearing civil anarchy. The idea is very unrealistic.

          Call me unpatriotic, unAmerican, or cowardly if you want. Protecting your community from scumbags who are coming in and killing your friends, neighbors, and family has absolutely *nothing* to do with the ideology of Saddam Hussein and Saudi Arabia. That's a horrible comparison.

          The U.S. should have gone into Iraq in the first place, that's pretty clear at this point. What's also clear is Iraq is not the United States... so the Bill of Rights and America's founders argument is irrelevant. Go ahead and try to give 100,000 invading radicals the "right" to due process while they're killing your civilians in the order of hundreds per month.

          "Excuse me sir, you're under arrest. I'm going to have to ask you not to detonate that bomb you've got strapped across your chest." Yeah, that'll work. Makes total sense.

          Best of Luck!
          • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5"Call me unpatriotic, unAmerican, or cowardly if you want. "

            Ask, and ye shall receive.

            In point of fact, while you US bumbles around failing to find Bin Laden and failing to stop attacks on civilians in Iraq, all using our vaunted military, the British and other nation's have used their police forces, Interpol and, yes, due process and the rule of law, to foil one terrorist attack after another and arrest the would-be perpetrators.

            Unfortunately, for you, reality has a liberal bias.
          • inobla, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Hi rationalist,
            You're spouting a lot of misplaced ideological rhetoric.
            Arresting people for due process works great in a country where dozens of attacks with large casualties aren't occurring daily, as in the United States and United Kingdom. Of course you want to capture, interrogate, and give trial when it's realistically possible. But again, this is NOT the US and UK we're talking about here.
            When a country such as Iraq is at war and being overwhelmed with attacks against the civilian population from insurgents, many of whom are coming in from Iran, do you honestly believe it's the job of the Iraqi police and military forces NOT to do everything in their power to protect their citizens from harm immediately by eliminating the attacking force? Yeah, it's great when you can capture some of the scumbags, and when you do, of course put them on trial... but I'm sorry, if you try more to capture an enemy attacking with those kinds of numbers rather than fight back immediately to defend yourself and your people, the casualties on your side and will be way more enormous. That's what happens when your cities are a ***** battlefield.
            Also, what do the Iraqi's defending themselves from insurgents crossing in from Iran have to do with Bin Laden? Last I heard those with "liberal bias" were really driving the point home that Iraq and Bin Laden have nothing to do with each other.
            Any level-headed solder in Iraq who sees an insurgent shooting at a group unarmed civilians is going to immediately try to put a bullet in the scumbags head...you know, aka EXTERMINATE THE EVIL POS SOB. They're not going to try wrestling him to the ground so he can stand trial, especially when this kind of crap is happening every day all over the place. How can you possibly compare this to the ideology of Saddam?
            I think you're the one with a bit of a reality disconnect.
          • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You need to read up a bit on World War II, a time when the US, by and large and as a matter of policy, acted more honorably and more in keeping with the Geneva Conventions - despite the fact that we were fighting horrific animals who tortured POW's and, ironically , "exterminated" the people they considered "vermin".

            The Japanese violated every rule of War in the Pacific, while the Germans violated every standard of humanity in Europe, yet the US and allies did not, by and large -and certainly not as a matter of policy - stoop to their level of barbarism.

            In the aftermath, we had the Neuremburg Trials - not the "extermination without trial" that you advocate.

            You should also look at the latest terror arrests in Germany and Belgium, and compare then to the way we behave - and with our lack of results.

            Final point - you have been attempting to shift the focus of the discussion ever since you made your initial comment - which was not about Iraq and Iraqis, it was about Iranians, and you advocated exterminating them - with no differentiation between peaceful Iranian citizens and terrorists who happen to be of Iranian descent - ignoring the fact that they are a minority of those perpetrating violence in the Middle East and even in Iraq itself.

            You made an over-generalized, racist statement, and now you are trying to pretend that his is about military vs. police force in Iraq. *****.
    • supermanred, on 10/10/2007, -9/+17CIA flow from USA and cause ***** all over the world too.

      Glass house. Stones.... throwing...
      • Nougat, on 10/10/2007, -3/+13People will dig that down, but you're right. US intelligence agencies have been getting themselves involved (covertly or otherwise) in every corner of the world.

        The US sent support to the White Russians against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution.
        In 1953, the US CIA, along with the UK, removed the democratically elected leader of Iran and install a leader of their choosing. The Shah was finally thrown out in a coup in 1979, when US citizens in the US embassy were taken hostage for 44 days.
        In 1959, the CIA helps install "Papa Doc" Duvalier as the military dictator of Haiti.
        In 1973, the US helped over throw Allende in Chile and put Pinochet in power.

        That's just a sample.

        http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/CIAtimeline.html

        The rest of the world looks askew at the US at best - and overtly acts to attack the US at worst - because the US has historically messed around in *everyone else's business,* to the detriment of the target du jour, while putting on a public face of moral superiority.

        They don't "hate our freedom." They want freedom. They want their own freedom, and they want to be free from the US. What they hate is the US continually imposing its "freedom" on everyone else.
      • bitcloud, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Yeah I can't figure out why yours - the single most relevant comment on the thread - is being dugg down either....
      • snakepimp, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8I like you guys, but in my experience, you get dugg down when you provide real information and intellectual insight. That's what I can't stand; all the half-literate haters, here's my repost, just because I think it goes along with Nougat.

        My reply to the Columbus Dispatch:
        Dear Sirs &/or Misses, as the case may be;

        Your very ignorance about the American people is evidenced by your frighteningly propagandistic portrayal of the people of Iran as cockroaches. Newspapers who play at yellow journalism, seeking to sell this never ending war of aggression against the tortured Middle East and states not willing to play patsy to the current globalist agenda, can no longer stay hidden behind the façade of assumed moral authority and independence of the press. The world of information is open to all, in the 21st Century, the information revolution has already evolved beyond the scope of your business model, and the Dodo Bird Newspaper cannot compete with the lion of the internet, so please learn to adapt, or your paper will perish like all overspecialized creatures who fail to do so. The people of Iran are not cockroaches, nor general criminals. The citizens of Iran have prejudices, just as have people of all nations, including our own. Our nation was built on the backs of those whom we were so prejudiced against, but in the modern era, the United States of America asserts globally that we have outgrown such petty and narrow-minded operative views. But how can our beloved nation continue to be a shining example to the world, if we are unable to recognize, such a simple fact; The fact that the vast majority of all people of Iran want to have families, safety, liberty, and peace, just as we all do, and that it is only the radical analogues-unto-yourselves within their society which vault the fence into military fracas. Your illustration, by its very production, let alone publication, pummels me with revulsion. Iran doesn’t even have a Navy, and our own best intelligence estimates claim it will be a decade before they could possibly produce “the bomb,” of which we have so many, and superior specimens. Be gone, bringers of evil and hatred and separation, be gone, you are a danger to the safety of the people of the United States.
    • eclipse007, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Since when did it become a known fact? Since you heard it from THE MOST CORRUPT ADMINISTRATION in the history of United States? When was the last time an Iranian terrorist was arrested? Why doesn't the US arrest one of those Iranian terrorists in Iraq/Afaghanistan? Why do they just talk about it?
    • caponumen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Except for the terrorists flowing into the occupied territories of Israel, you call them settlers.......
    • shabumike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Terrorists come from the current administration and blackwater too.
    • clafleche, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0where is Iraw?
  • Gadren, on 10/10/2007, -4/+21I'm reminded of "Hotel Rwanda," where one ethnic group was calling the others "cockroaches..."
  • Gadren, on 10/10/2007, -6/+31“We must kill the Tutsi cockroaches” - Hutu Power Radio.
    • lordtyros, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16man, Hotel Rwanda was a fantastic movie.
      • supermanred, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Yes it was. And to think, the same thing is happening sort of in this situation. The US media is saying "We must kill the Iranian cockroaches" - USA Power Radio

        Sad, we think we are so superior but all it takes is a bunch of lies on a radio show or newspaper and everyone believes there is a new enemy in town.
    • reddevil3, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"Sometime in April" was better imo.
    • declawedpaw, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0...with Chinese machetes.
  • futureisours, on 10/10/2007, -28/+9This is a joke. I see comic strips posted on digg against this administration all the time. Quit being hypercrites you moonbats.
    • lithuin, on 10/10/2007, -2/+11What the heck is a moonbat? Who are you trying to insult?
      As a side note, why try to insult anyone? You can't call for reason and try to insult someone in the same post. Quit being such a hypercrite.... Also, what's a hypercrite? Is that like a moonbat?
      • wilshire1, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6A hypercrite would be someone who is too critical of themsefl I suppose. He's telling us to not be so hard on ourselves and that we can relax our unrealistically high standards for ourselves. thanks future.
      • bjornski, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Don't ask the Freepers to explain themselves. It's an exercise in futility.
      • Touchy610, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Moonbat (also "barking moonbat" and "moonbat crazy") is a term often used currently in U.S. politics as a political epithet referring to anyone that is liberal or on the left. (From Wiki)

        As opposed to wingnut, a name for the extreme right. Which this dude obviously is.
    • Wolverine82, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6that's the thing though, genius. this administration is just a handful of people. i don't know if you noticed, but um, they portray a whole country as a sewer. with cockroaches coming out. thanks for paying attention.
    • SuperMoses, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Going after individuals (with reason) is very different than going after an entire country.
    • hierophantus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7As low regard as I have for neo-cons, if I saw a cartoon depicting neo-cons as cockroaches, I would object to it. I have seen no such cartoon on Digg or anywhere else, though, so I fail to see my "hypercrisy."

      And if you actually can explain what a "moonbat" is, I'd be surprised. I'm willing to bet you just parrot the term like all the other administration talking points.
    • p51d007, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Haven't you heard? Digg.com is the NEW home for the dailyKOS/democraticunderground.com morons.
      • gropo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Try as you might, you're outnumbered. Why don't you do the standard 'outnumbered Conservative' thing and cry us a river "boohoo boohoo they're persecuting us!". Then go solicit some gay sex in a public place.
  • andrew522, on 10/10/2007, -6/+13I live in columbus (where the dispatch is based) and I can say I don't agree with their views. They have traditionally been more conservative-- I think there was an ordeal last year where one of their major advertisers threatened to remove all of their ADs in the paper because of the politically slanted articles.

    still not as bad as FOX News though... I just don't read the political articles in the dispatch.
    • supermanred, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Write them a letter or email. Every one counts.
    • krd1979, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1hey Andrew522 I live in Columbus as well and I would hardly call the Dispatch a conservative paper, they are actually pretty even handed if not a bit liberal at times... just not as "liberal" as the Other Paper though
      • VinceNoir, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Yeah. They're not a conservative paper... if you're to the right of Adolph Hitler.
      • kenposan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I also live in Columbus and the Dispatch is notoriously conservative. I will admit that it has become better over the last few years, but it still pushes a conservative agenda.
  • mikefitz2, on 10/10/2007, -25/+2well, they are the same COLOR as rats, and they basically live in sewers --- what the ***** else do you expect ????
    • supermanred, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran

      Go there. Maybe you can learn a thing or two. Halfway down the page note the picture of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Husein.
    • hmugabe, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4did daddy not pay enough attention to you when you were a boy, or did he give you bad attention?
    • hierophantus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Hmmm. Let me guess, you're about the same color as a maggot. So I should expect what from you?
    • shabumike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Are you retarded, I'm sorry for you no wait im sorry for demeaning retards.
  • SheilaNoya, on 10/10/2007, -8/+23Cockroaches fleeing a sewer? The same cartoon could apply to all of the people fleeing the Bush Administration.
    • p0s3r, on 10/10/2007, -6/+5Now that surely wouldn't incite all this faux diggeral outrage!
  • Tenroh, on 10/10/2007, -18/+11God forbid someone create a comic/cartoon that you don't agree with.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4674864.stm
    ("Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy")

    Is it really necessary to reprimand someone for how they feel on an issue?
    • boyasunder, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11The whole point of free speech is that you should be able to respond to those things you disagree with.
      So sure, if you feel strongly enough about it, it's necessary.
    • Wolverine82, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2yes, because not everybody can post whatever they want to the majority of the public through a commerical mechanism such as the local newspaper. if you try and post the same thing on the corner of the street, you will not be allowed. it will be taken down. maybe not immediately, but it is technically illegal.
    • Wolverine82, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Tenroh, you are the most naive person on the planet. Go educate yourself.
    • bjornski, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Just because you have the right to make an ass out of yourself publicly doesn't mean that everyone else doesn't have the right to call you a ***** when you do it.
    • snakepimp, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Yes, it is absolutely necessary, to speak up for what one believes in, otherwise one's beliefs are meaningless.
  • BillDoE, on 10/10/2007, -13/+3This would be a more accurate picture http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/1067920/2/istockphoto_1067920_hornets_in_nest.jpg
  • mrASSMAN, on 10/10/2007, -10/+5Hopefully those cockroaches are filled with gold..

    http://digg.com/world_news/US_fines_Iran_2_650_000_000
  • empirefalling, on 10/10/2007, -14/+7Typical of American Racist media. The paper should be shut down at once. This can only make things worse for Americans in the eyes of the World Body.
    • thewatchman, on 10/10/2007, -5/+5you must be a muslim, unfamiliar with free speech
      • empirefalling, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6When did Racism become free speech?
        • p0s3r, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1When they put R's in blackface and make Condoleeza look like Aunt Jemima.
        • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Actually, "free speech" does not come with an asterisk with a small-print disclaimer listing the content that is excluded unless you buy the Enhanced Version.

          Freedom of speech means nothing if it excludes speech that offends you - or me, for that matter, as I find the cartoon offensive, inappropriate, and historically ignorant. I condemn it in the strongest language and would cancel my subscription if I lived in Ohio and had one - But I would also strongly defend their right to publish it.

          It makes me sad to hear political correctness - on both sides of the aisle - pervert what America is all about. The same people who gleefully call you names here will be cheering for Fred Thompson as he talks about how dissent "makes us weak".
      • Wolverine82, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2suck it thewatchman. you suck at life and are retarded.
    • tehjarvis, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Or they can practice free speech and freedom of the press.
  • dabears1218, on 10/10/2007, -12/+41Notice how it was in the opinion section. Last time I checked, there was something in America called the first amendment.
    • Pake, on 10/10/2007, -9/+8Hey, woooah, back her down. This is digg and we don't allow commonsense or logic to leak out.
      • hierophantus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8That comment may be true, but not in this context. As I say below, the First Amendment protects against government censorship, not public criticism.
    • MindTrigger, on 10/10/2007, -4/+14No one said they didn't have the right to make their point. As intelligent discerning people, we are also allowed to write them off as racist, neocon war mongers.
      • txgentleman, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2I love how people pull out the "racist" card when they really don't have an intelligent way to argue their point. This cartoon is not racist
        • TJATL, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1people don't know what "racist" means anymore because it just gets pounded into their head that is what they must use.
    • Napoleone, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16The First Amendment allows for the freedom of speech. People here are simply objecting to what was portrayed, which is their own Right under the First Amendment. No one here is advocating legal censorship of the paper, we're all only condemning it for publishing such trash.

      Suggesting Iranians are like roaches is reprehensible. Period.
      • txgentleman, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1Your comment is reprehensible. Get a life
        • phenry50BMG, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0You are a moron. Suck a tailpipe.
    • hierophantus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8That's right, there's a First Amendment, which forbids the government from restricting speech. Now, if the government steps in to shut down the newspaper for this, THEN YOU'D HAVE A POINT. (See Napoleone's comment, above).
    • enginbeering, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2bury
    • fugazied, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4They are free to express it, just as we are free to identify it as neo-con propaghanda. It is simply disgusting, but yes they do have the right to say it just as the neo-nazis have the right (in some states) to express their views on jews. If you agree with the intent of the cartoon you wouldn't have any qualms with nazis posting their propaghanda in the same paper?
  • airiox, on 10/10/2007, -21/+25You people are sick. Where is the free speech in America?
    • Gigabutt, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4To be fair, I didn't publish/draw/write/support this. I don't think you can say all of us Americans are sick.
    • empirefalling, on 10/10/2007, -11/+5Please stop the banner waving of "free" speech. When a racist cartoon is placed where all can see with the sole purpose of inciting hatred...such as this cartoon has....it has become criminal.
      • Leksikon, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4And yet it's not criminal, at all, as in it's protected by our laws for being free speach... You also have the right to disagree with it, ignore it, be angry at it, etc. but at the end of the day, stfu and deal with it.
        • Jerky1312, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Someone telling others to "shut the ***** up and deal with it" while at the same time trying to be a proponent of free speech is making look like an idiot. The newspaper has the right to post the cartoon, but everyone else has the right to criticize them as well. That's how free speech works.
      • TJATL, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3hate speech is protected speech. Me saying, I HATE you for being a whiny liberal should not result in me being convicted of a crime and vice versa.
    • MindTrigger, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10Who said they weren't allowed to make their point? We are allowed to not ***** like it as well... genius.
    • hierophantus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10Exactly. The First Amendment is not a shield against criticism. Stop digging up that retarded comment, people.
    • oneblackcitizen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2freedom of speech is right here on digg...
      Or did some one convince you that newspapers are entitled to freedom of speech but citizens are not?

  • kindaslow, on 10/10/2007, -10/+13Dehumanizing people is evil

    Really
    • johnrohan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Killing innocent people is even more evil, believe it or not.
  • smurf22, on 10/10/2007, -10/+5Even the devil shakes his head at this.
  • gquaglia, on 10/10/2007, -21/+8I liked it. Very accurate representation.
    • Wolverine82, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9my ass is an accurate description of your face. right after a bad case of the mud butt.
    • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3And you would know this...how, exactly?
  • supermanred, on 10/10/2007, -13/+15USA is the new Nazi Germany Circa 1935

    Impeach. Imprison. It isn't too late.
    • pricees, on 10/10/2007, -5/+0VIOLATION OF GODWINS LAW!
      • bitcloud, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3***** godwins law - we're 600,000 deaths, torture, wiretapping and a second war on the plate past godwins law...

        it's not funny.. it's not relevant.. STFU
      • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Godwin's Law is not an actual law, and cannot be "violated". Godwin's Law is an observation of a tendency in Internet discussions. It states:

        "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

        How exactly does one "violate" that assertion?

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law
        "The rule does not make any statement as to whether any particular reference or comparison to Hitler or the Nazis might be appropriate, but only asserts that one arising is increasingly probable. It is precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued, that overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact."
    • pricees, on 10/10/2007, -5/+0VIOLATION OF GODWINS LAW!
    • empirefalling, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6Yes....it is obvious to persons outside the regime of America...but like Germany of the 1930's...the populace of the US is oblivious to the atrocities committed in the name of their country every hour, every day...
    • hoovcluck, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Then why don't you save us superman? Oh that's right you are communist superhero!
      • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Get out of Mom's basement every once and a while and stop rummaging in Dad's old trunk. Life is not actually a McCarthy-era comic book.
        • hoovcluck, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Actually I was in your dad's basement rummaging around in your mother's old trunk.
          With a name like rationalist I would assume that you are rational enough to see the differences between the US and Nazi Germany.
  • WaterJake, on 10/10/2007, -8/+16The point of the cartoon is that Iran is a breeding ground for terrorists and extremists that are spreading across the Middle East. The point of the cockroaches is that the extremists are all but impossible to wipe out. I'm not saying that this is correct; however, the artist is not attempting to depict Iranians as cartoonists. The simplest of analysis reveals this to be a poor interpretation.

    Additionally, I'm tired of linking to opinion pieces in clearly one-sided blogs. Why not link to the actual news paper instead?
    • empirefalling, on 10/10/2007, -3/+9Pure propaganda from your Nazi leader to continue killing and to justify his eventual attack on Iran.
      • airiox, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3pure propaganda from your liberal blogs. You people say you care about the truth, but instead of getting your news from a reputable place, you go to liberal central so you can get their spin, then you say, see the truth. If a conservative was to go to some conservative blog and get his news there you would call him and idiot that doesnt care about the facts. Well I will oblige and do the same, you are an idiot who doesnt care about the truth.
    • ajays, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Iran is a "breeding ground for terrorists" ? I bet you learnt that from the "fair and balanced" news outlet.

      If you've been paying any attention (even as little as Ms. SC pays to geography), then you'll know that SAUDI ARABIA and PAKISTAN are the breeding grounds of terrorists. Where were the 9/11 hijackers from, you chump? Most of the foreign fighters in Iraq who are attacking US troops are from SAUDI ARABIA.
      • johnrohan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Ever heard of the Beirut bombing in 1983?
    • johnrohan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Water Jake: "Additionally, I'm tired of linking to opinion pieces in clearly one-sided blogs. Why not link to the actual news paper instead?"

      Because that would be more likely to see another side of the issue, and so it wouldn't get recommended on Digg.
  • ersiusp, on 10/10/2007, -11/+11All the people interpreting the roaches as representing Persians are the racists. The comic is clearly about terrorists, not an entire people...unless you think all Persians are terrorists.
    • empirefalling, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7Your government states that Iran is evil. Your government states that Iran promotes terrorism. Your government States that Iraq had "Weapons of Mass Destruction"...
      • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Unless you believe that we should equate all Iranian people with their president, you should be careful equating all Americans with ours. More and more, you sound like the exact mirror image of the racists defending the cartoon.
    • hierophantus, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8And how do you get around the depiction of Iran as a sewer?
  • smartass007, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1we've been down this road before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a406qxVPbsw

    free speech != hate speech
    • pricees, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Please use ruby syntax.
    • TJATL, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2hate speech is protected under the first amendment. Otherwise there would be a ***** of digg users locked up by now.
  • hammerpants, on 10/10/2007, -12/+31Diggers unite!!! Down with freedom of speech! A newspaper is no place for unbridled thinking and expression.
    • Napoleone, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7Way to skew the argument. The paper has a Right to publish such trash. A Constitutional Right I support wholeheartedly. But we also have a right to call them out on their racism. What don't you get about that?
      • hammerpants, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Did you even read the editorial...or did you just take Crooks and Liars commentary of it as fact? Sure, you're free to speak, but do some research before you open your mouth.
        • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Pot, no need to introduce you to kettle, since you manage to be both at the same time.
      • TJATL, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1Racism? Where did it say Iranians are genetically inferior to Americans? Time for you to learn what racism is.
    • bitcloud, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4take it easy... I don't think anyone wants to put an end to free speech, but to suggest that free speech won't prompt others to use their free speech in retaliation is a bit naive...
  • SD929, on 10/10/2007, -16/+7Thats exactly what those muslim ***** are. But unlike the real roaches, they won't be surviving the nuclear bombings.
    • physphd, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8That's funny - you sound just like the terrorists who call for OUR annihilation. Can you articulate any particular difference? The hate sure sounds the same.
      • bjornski, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4There is no difference. Except that instead of being a man, and strapping on a bomb-vest, we destroy cities from 50,000 feet at no risk to ourselves.
    • bitcloud, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Jesus ***** christ... just do us all a favour and get off our planet....
  • pricees, on 10/10/2007, -9/+4Its amazing that Iranians (Middle Easterners) don't actually voice concern over ***** like this. If this were Israel, the Dispatch would have to pay off the 12 tribes, AIPAC, and build a new wing on the Simon Wiesenthal museum.
    • baller90210, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3because they have a life and don't waste their time on Digg.
    • TJATL, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Middle Eastern people go ape ***** all the time over a cartoon, just look at those done in Europe.
      • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Can you define "Middle Eastern people" for those of us not trained in bigot-code?
        • TJATL, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1see the original poster that my reply is obviously directed at. Why are you concerned only at my use? Because you don't agree with me? You must lean to the left at being a "rationalist".
  • turnlikeawheel, on 10/10/2007, -15/+6Americans have a tendency to be gay bashing, racist, morons. Canadians have a tendency to be bleeding heart hippies, Japanese have a tendency to be overworked pervs. When did national rivalries become racism? You people need to get your heads out of your liberal asses and learn to take it easy. You don't think other countries do that to you? Are you offended? I hope so, you douchebags.
    • hmugabe, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1you're so edgy
      • bjornski, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4He's a Faux News watcher. Don't be so hard on the mentally impaired.
    • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Memo: South Park is actually a cartoon, not a documentary, despite the astonishing fidelity with which it portrays you and your friends..
      • snakepimp, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1rationalist, that was truly witty. Hurrah.
    • shabumike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Ignorant *****
  • limeaid, on 10/10/2007, -16/+15Buried for being inaccurate
    The cartoon is a total representation of the terrorist breeding ground in Iran and how they will infest the rest of the middle east
    thanks again crooks and liars for being just that

    • kronix2, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Pull your head out of your ass and read about what your own military is saying. Most terrorists in Iraq are Saudi and Pakistani.

      Iran is not a breeding ground for terrorists. In fact, the US is funding terrorist groups in Iran right now, because the terrorist groups happen to be opposed to the current regime.
  • spideyman, on 10/10/2007, -10/+5Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Free Speech!!
    • xjbri, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Free Speech = market place of ideas. You express what you think is right, we have the right to counter that argument.

      Theoretically, the truth prevails.
    • snakepimp, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'm all for free speech, but I am free to criticize that speech. And in this case, it is an attempt to dehumanize the 'enemy,' a propaganda technique used for centuries now. I oppose this sort of hate speech, from whatever source; USA, Iran, Israel, UK, any body which seeks to divide and conquer with simplistic cliches and dehumanization of 'the other' is reprehensible.
  • p0s3r, on 10/10/2007, -9/+16http://www.jcpa.org/phas/blood%20libel_cartoon.gif
    This is how the Iranians make cartoons of the Jews. Where's the faux diggeral outrage?
    • spideyman, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3EXACTLY!!!
    • airiox, on 10/10/2007, -7/+5Oh noes, lets digg him down, because we can't let anyone see this cartoon. More censoring from you liberal clowns that are supposed to believe in free speech, well unless that speech isn't what you believe in.
      • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I find your argument curious. Are you suggesting that the Iranian press represents the standard that American media should aspire to?

        Or is it government control of the media there that you find admirable and worth emulating in our country?

        Also, are you suggesting that it would be appropriate - indeed, that you would actually welcome - Iranians coming and telling us what we can or cannot print in our American newspapers?

        If not, then perhaps you need to rethink your logic.
        • airiox, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1wtf does that have to do with my comment you sad little man?
        • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Apologies, airiox - too many multisyllabic words for you?
    • hoovcluck, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2That is just proof that the Jews control the media in Iran. Oh wait, nevermind, it's the Iranian government controls the media. Yet somehow we are the evil fascists in the minds of these diggers.
    • baller90210, on 10/10/2007, -4/+0this is hilarious. i love the comment on the cartoon
    • hierophantus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Why digg him down when he has no point? As a liberal who had mild criticism for the cartoon subject of this post, I have about the same reaction to this cartoon of yours. And that's even taking this into account: I expect this kind of brainless, disgusting propaganda from the Israel-haters of the world; I expect quite a bit better from American editorial cartoons.

      And, besides, at this point he has a +4, so where is the ZOMG LIBTARD CENSORSHIP!!!11!! ?
    • bitcloud, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5I think that cartoon is ***** up too.. then again I expect more from the USA....

      dugg down for being completely irrelevant.
    • mgdummy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3This is ***** Arabic cartoon. The writings on the cartoon are totally Arabic,
      If you don't know the difference between Arabs & Persians than you are a ***** unintelligent cockroache
    • shabumike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Is Ohio a jewish state?
    • kronix2, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1If a US (or Western) newspaper printed a cartoon showing Jews as maniacal murderers, there would be outrage.

      Believe it or not, we hold ourselves to higher standards than the Middle-Eastern press.
  • whatthefu, on 10/10/2007, -5/+9Of course it's stupid, but it's a ***** political cartoon. If the paper is willing to publish the cartoon then they are free to.
    • SuperMoses, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7And people are free to express outrage.
  • Shawn4168, on 10/10/2007, -10/+8Oh my gosh, a cartoon!!! I'm going to take this 100% literally!!! All Republicans really are elephants and all Democrats really are jackasses!!!
    • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Do yourself a favor, pick up a history book - preferably one that covers the 20th century. Learn something about cultural references and the history of Nazi propaganda in general, and the significance of the cockroaches and sewers in political cartoons.

      Hell, just pick up a book.
  • jagermeistr, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6I dont think the cockroaches literally symbolize iranians, I think the artist is trying to convey his feelings on how he believes Iranian influence is plaguing the middle east. In any of case, its freedom of speech and the last thing we need now is over reactions over things like this.
    • SuperMoses, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6I'm not saying censor the cartoonist, but freedom of speech goes both ways and we have a right to express our disapproval with the cartoons.
    • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Imagine that the cartoonist portrayed George Bush with a Hitler mustache, wearing a swastika armband, making the "Heil Hitler" salute to the Statue of Liberty. Then, perhaps you can understand the historical significance of this particular choice of imagery ,with the sewer and the vermin overrunning a map.

      Or, just Google "The Eternal Jew", directed by Franz Hippler at the behest of Joseph Goebbels (look Goebbels up, too, might be quite an educational experience)
  • Kajman, on 10/10/2007, -12/+14On Digg, we only support free speech if we like what is being said.
    • gmallard, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Aha! We are just like all the other fascists running around!
      Very good.
    • bitcloud, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Who said anything about free speech? you've just taken this free speech thing and run with it...

      writing letters to the editor has NOTHING to do with free speech... sorry to spoil your lynching...
    • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Supporting your right to be offensive does not preclude me from finding you offensive. That's kind of the whole point. Criticizing speech is in itself a form of free speech - kind of like what you are doing by criticizing the critics.
  • dmh11686, on 10/10/2007, -5/+6Compared to some of the cartoons liberals have drawn of President Bush and people in his administration this is nothing. I bet Iran is happy that liberal blogs like crooksandliars are on their side.
    • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Seems you are capable of differentiating between the president of the United States and the people of the United States, who have all sorts of diverse opinions.

      Why are you not capable of doing the same with regard to the Iranian people vs. the Iranian government?
  • footodors, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1Wish I had a big can of Raid for them!

    "voice"
  • BelieveItYo, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1at Napoleone if you really think that you are part of the problem. I dont give a ***** if someone is black or white or iranian or not. Just dont talk about it or think about it, it might go away. I'd say the pic is pretty ***** dead on. Sure they could have had better taste, but let me ask you if you have seen how they are portraying Americans in Iranian newspapers lately??? You might have a different view on this if you lost your 19 year old best friend in combat in Iraq, fighting to save assholes like you from being blown up in another 9/11. If everyone thought like you, we'd have no army and all be dead. Thanks alot , like I said you are part of the problem.
    • empirefalling, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5If your friend is fighting to save Americans from another 9/11...why did he fight in Iraq? Perhaps he should have been fighting on the streets of the American capital to prevent another 9/11.
    • Napoleone, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Believe: Sorry about your friend. I also have family and friends in the ARMY. I have family and friends in Iraq. The U.S. Army is an all-volunteer service. Unfortunately, that means soldiers are contractually obligated to behave as drones, and must obey all sorts of ***** up orders. Despite the decency of a great majority of men and women that join the U.S. Army, I have no love for it. I do not support it nor its missions. It is a tyrannical force for the elite.

      I support the Navy. I support the Air Force. I support the Marines and the National Guard. I do not support the United States Army. Standing armies are not only unnecessary, they have the potential for great terror upon their own people.

      And I'm sorry to tell you, but your friend didn't die trying to defend me and my freedoms. He died to protect and advance the financial interests of a few. It's a shame he did, and I sincerely offer you my condolences.
    • snakepimp, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3BelieveitYo; I can tell that you're clearly a very well read scholar with a deep understanding of history, and the behavior of nations, so I'll try to appeal to you from that perspective.
      I have a brother in-law in the Marines over there right now, we're ALL affected by this, pal, and I love our military services, and the people in them, it's the POLICIES WE IMPLEMENT I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH, and so should you too.
    • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2"Let me ask you if you have seen how they are portraying Americans in Iranian newspapers lately???"

      So, your argument is that the American media should aspire to be like the Iranian media? That our free press should seek to emulate Iranian newspapers?

      Strange argument you have there.

      Then, you compound it with this:

      "You might have a different view on this if you lost your 19 year old best friend in combat in Iraq, fighting to save assholes like you from being blown up in another 9/11."

      So, your loyalty to core American principles such as democracy, rule of law, fairness, compassion, and morality is so weak, that you would abandon them because what you believe is a fight to defend them incurs casualties? Your idea of beating the terrorists is to become more like them? What kind of red-blooded patriot are you?

      Not to mention that Iran had nothing to do with 9/11. If you feel that attacking them is justified by that horror, then you are one of the US Americans that need maps, such as.

      Saudi Arabia, source of most of the 9/11 terrorists as well as Bin Laden and much of the anti-American terrorist financing, is on the other side and just below the Iraq in relation to the Iran, such as.

  • mathamoz, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6Great, not only am I now ashamed to be an American, but I'm also far more ashamed than I was before having read this of being an Ohio resident. I'm about to move to another country, this is just getting to be *****. Problem is, no other country would probably take me :(
    • digboy99, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Try looking at the cartoon again and show me where it says that Iranians are cockroaches. Please.
    • txgentleman, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Maybe if more people like you would leave the country, things would be better
    • johnrohan, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Go to Iran.
  • Pake, on 10/10/2007, -8/+7It's all fine and dandy to stereotype and be prejudice towards Americans, but I'll be damned if you do it to someone else! Right?!
    • Napoleone, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1No one said it was alright, but why behave that way in kind? Are we never going to strive for the moral high-ground again?
    • snakepimp, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Pake, it is not dandy to stereotype America, and only idiots, possibly such as yourself, would attack AMERICA for one newspapers cartoon. Just as only idiots could possibly vew the country of Iran as fleeing cockroaches escaping a drain.
      You are a disgrace to my country, if you're a citizen of it.
      • Pake, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Yes, I'm obviously a disgrace to America for pointing out the hypocrisy that plagues Digg. I'm soooooooooo glad you were so could to write a reply without degrading me.

        Oh, and since you might need help understanding what I just wrote (obviously you misunderstood my original post), the last sentence I wrote about you not degrading me, that is what we call sarcasm.
    • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Your argument, that it is ok to do something wrong because America's enemies do it, is profoundly unamerican.

      Real patriots don't hold up the worst behavior of anti-Americans and say, "hey, we should be just like them!"

      For that matter, decent moral people generally outgrow the kindergarten argument "but mommm, Billy done it first" fairly quickly. It is what you do as a person, and what we do as a people, that matters; we hold ourselves to high standards that aren't based on anyone else.

      At least some of us Americans do.
      • Pake, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1You must have missed the reply I wrote to Snakepimp. I'm not saying it's right, just that people Digg are huge hypocrites, because they feel it's fine to criticize Americans in this manner. Then when an American does it, all the sudden all hell has broke loose and something needs to be done about it.
        • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Please point us to Digg submitters and/or commenters that say that "it's find to criticize Americans in this manner", and then get bent out shape when an American does it. I call *****.
        • Pake, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Duggornot.com, search some of these people's names who are getting bent out of shape over this cartoon and you'll see just how are hypocrites.
          • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1In other words, you have nothing to back up your assertion.
  • pierrerdy4actn, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3WELCOME TO FASCIST AMERICA !
    • digboy99, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2You are a tool, and obviously stupid for the clear misunderstanding of the cartoon.
  • exomni, on 10/10/2007, -5/+2Ah, yes: getting up-in-arms over a cartoon depicting muslim people/countries...



    all too familiar.
  • xXMetalJesusXx, on 10/10/2007, -6/+5I find it the cartoon to be absolutely disgusting. I'm not going to say it's representative on American beliefs because I'm Canadian and I really don't know any Americans that well. But I find the lack of humanity that the cartoonist exhibits to be appalling.
    • digboy99, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Another moron amongst us! Ok, show me where it says that Iranias are cockroaches.
      • nickiank, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It doesn't necessarily say that, but given that it *is* stating Iran to be a hole under a sewer grating, it's not that big of a stretch. Do you need an equation?
  • digboy99, on 10/10/2007, -6/+5What better way to tell the Dispatch that Digg users are a bunch of dummies. The cartoon does not say that all Iranians are cockroaches, rather it attempts to communicate that the terrorism problem that plagues the world originates from Iran. Big difference folks.
    • xXMetalJesusXx, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1If that is the case, the cartoonist fails horribly. Or at least the Pic fails at showing any sort of caption to support what your saying.
      • digboy99, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Put the picture into context. How would you depict an uncontrolled spread of terrorism that is sourced from Iran? The cockroach example seems to fit pretty well. A cockroach is known as a lower life form, and seems to spread at will in the shadows. Seems like a terrorist to me.
        • xXMetalJesusXx, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Put the picture into context? okay...is EVERY SINGLE PERSON from Iran a terrorist? Nope...not even close. But this pic clearly replaced the ENTIRE country with a sewer drain...

          The cartoon is either racist, or retarded...take your pick
        • b3owulf, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1So because YOU didn't get it, the cartoon is retarded? That makes sense.

          Good luck reading any real literature in the world.
        • xXMetalJesusXx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0LoL
          B3owulf...you fail
          Cartoons =/= Literature

          Mind you, I'm a 3rd year university student who has read Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Paradise Lost...and other Old English Texts. I expected something more out of a person with a name like B3owulf.
        • goodoldharris, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1b3owulf:

          Aren't you the one who doesn't get it?
    • shabumike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0You know a lot of Iranian terrorists do you? Funny, I know a few Iranians and none of them are terrorists.
  • 0xDEFEC8, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1ugh would someone take the WWII book away from these yutzes so they can stop making holocaust allusions?

    christ if they read that the jews were portrayed as snoopy in nazi germany they'd be blogging about peanuts cartoons
    • there, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Further reading about the dehumanizing propaganda of Nazis.

      http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/ww2era.htm#Posters
    • rationalist, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Perhaps the problem is that people like you have never picked up a WWII book.

      Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.

      We should aspire to more as a people than to evoke Nazi propaganda. We're better than that.
      • 0xDEFEC8, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Not my point, professor.

        Not everything is Hitler 2.0. You just prefer to believe it is because self righteous indignation is just so much sweeter when your opponent is supposedly a Nazi. You think this is history repeating? If you're talking about Godwin's Law, then yeh, it is.

        Personally I thought the cartoon was just referring to Iran crossing Iraqi borders to kill Americans with bombs and such. Didn't even cross my mind that it was implying anything about Iran as a people (Persians). But I was wrong, I guess it's about the holocaust. Stupid hick fascist me.
        • goodoldharris, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10xDEFEC8:

          Not everything is Hitler 2.0, but the connection between this cartoon and the kind of propaganda used by Nazis against Jews is obvious. Not sure why you can't see it. Maybe you lack information about how this kind of propaganda has been used in past wars. In any case, you're wrong to assume that just because you don't understand something that there must be nothing to understand. There's a reason the Nazis and this paper chose cockroaches not Snoopy. You should do some reading.
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